We All Scream for Our Screens

I don't have a recipe for you this week, sorry! :( I've stayed really busy with school and other big projects going, so I have not had a chance to photo-record any new recipes for you. Instead, I have a thought provoking type post for you. I have copied a blog post written by Paul Asay from the pluggedin.focusonthefamily blog site. The original article is just below, and then there will be a short summary of my thoughts on the subject. Hope you enjoy!

            Last week I ruminated on the joys of unplugging for a bit. But truth is, it didn’t take me long to reconnect.

            Granted, my job is a little different than most, where being (ahem) plugged in is part of the gig. I’m one of the few people who vows—in the context of a performance review—to watch more television. Still, it’s a little shocking how much time I spend with my screens. I’ve got several demanding my attention constantly, it seems, and I might spend more time staring at them than I do looking at, you know, real people.

            But if I’m overdoing it on screen time, I’ve got a lot of company. According to a shiny new study by Nielsen, adults in the United States are spending an average of 10 hours, 39 minutes consuming media every day—a full hour more than we spent on media last year. That’s not time spent answering e-mails at work, by the way: It’s watching television shows, streaming movies, playing video games and all manner of other electronic entertainment diversions.

            No wonder we complain that we never have any time. Our screens take so much of it. The biggest media time-suck is still live television, Nielsen says, even though we’re cutting back on the boob tube a little. On average, Americans spend about 4 hours and 31 minutes watching TV every day, compared to four hours, 34 minutes in 2015.

            So why, if TV viewing has actually dropped a bit, is our media time up? Blame our smartphones and tablets. We’re streaming about 60% more on our phones this year compared to last, and 63% more on our tablet computers. Indeed, those two devices alone account for 49 minutes of that extra hour. As a culture, we’re cutting back on traditional media sources a little … but we’re engaging with new media outlets a lot.

            “We are moving ever closer to the world of Wall-E,” Relevant magazinedeclares. And admittedly, those numbers are pretty staggering. But is Nielsen’s study truly a sign that we’re overly dependent on screens for our entertainment these days? More importantly, how much time do you spend with media? Do these figures sound grossly exaggerated or just about right?

That's it for the article by Paul Asay. It is a little overwhelming how much we use technology now. I personally have two "screens," a Moto G phone and a Fire tablet. However, since I do not have phone capability on either, I like to think that perhaps I am not quite so zoned out of the real world as some people. Although, I have been known to lie on my bed watching Netflix for hours at a time on weekends. So, I do think there is truth to what Mr. Asay said. I think that maybe we should try to pay a little more attention to just how much we use our phones, or tablets, or laptops, etc. and not forget that we have a real family, and not just a virtual one.